H.B. 234 is an 18 page reform of Ohio’s firearms laws, though most of the 18 pages are existing law. The reforms are simple commonsense reforms of provisions of state law that were unduly restrictive and made no sense. This was reflected by the large vote margins for passage of the bill; 24-6 in the Senate, 69-16 in the House.

The bill now goes to Governor Kasich, who has not indicated if he will sign it or not. Disarmists are already lobbying the Governor in an attempt to have him veto the bill. Governor Kasich has 10 days from receipt of the bill to either veto or sign it. If he takes no action, the bill becomes law without his signature. In general, laws go into effect in Ohio 90 days after final action by the Governor.

Some of the major provisions of the bill are:

Creates reciprocity to recognize concealed handgun permits from other states, much as drivers licenses are recognized.

Eliminates a provision in the law that equated semi-automatics firearms that could accept magazines with a capacity of more than 30 rounds as automatic weapons.

States that the Ohio CHL will meet the requirements of the national instant check system. This should allow CHL holders to purchase firearms by presenting their CHL to firearms dealers.

Allows for training certification by any “national gun advocacy organization” instead of the National Rifle Association specifically.

Allows for partial training online, but requires two hours of in person range time for CHL permit training.

Extends Ohio CHL permit expiration to the date of expiration on the permit, instead of upon change of residency.

Provides that entry into parking lots with a CHL shall not be considered criminal trespass.

Allows people in the Military, Peace Corps, and Service to America six months grace to renew an Ohio concealed handgun license.

This is a reconstruction of what someone from Palestine at about the time of "Jesus" would have looked like (source):

Carlos F. Cardoza-Orlandi, associate professor of world Christianity at Columbia Theological Seminary in Atlanta, says that "While Western imagery is dominant, in other parts of the world he is often shown as black, Arab or Hispanic."

Ancient peoples were very attentive to seasons and the Sun's position in the
sky, because their livelihood depended on planting and harvesting at the proper
times. The winter solstice was seen as the rebirth of the sun in those days. The astronomical phenomena were well known about the Solstice in ancient times: and they would have been far more in tune with the seasons and stars than some idiot who might fancy himself a "survivalist".

You can believe what you want--it's more than fine with me if you want to say black is white and get killed at a pedestrian crossing.

On the other hand, I only trust people whose reputation I can verify: not anonymous dumbfucks from the internet.

I'll toss in another point--you would need to have some sort of close date to be able to say that a star chart accurately reflected the sky at the time in question. No one has a definite date for Jesus' birth (if he even actually existed), which means that is not really a valid refutation of something which is an annually occurring phenomenon. Unless, you claim to have an exact date for Jesus' birth, which I seriously doubt you do since there is no actual agreement on when that could have happened even using the Bible as a reference.

Seriously, you've done something Biblical scholars have been trying to do for millennia if you really have this date. Take a bow and be proud of yourself.

But I seriously doubt you would be intelligent enough to do that since, as I said, far better minds than yours have been trying for millennia to come up with an exact date.

Additionally, the crucifixion and resurrection is a motif in other mystery religions, which hints that the astronomical symbolism explanation is more likely than an actual star. This is especially true since there is that solstice connection even if all the elements of being a saviour are missing. The Solstice was an important celebration of Dies Natalis Solis Invicti, which was something which has caused Christian scholars to dislike the link between the Solstice and the celebration of "Christ's birth" from the beginning.

Article II deals with executive powers, which you would know if you had any idea of what the Constitution actually says.

Oh
the irony! Article 2, Section 2: "...The President shall be commander in chief of
the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the MILITIA of the
several states, when called into the actual service of the United
States..."

But, you DON'T have any idea of what the fuck is going on most of the time (pointing out how stupid you people are would be a full time job), which is why you can be duped into an idiotic interpretation of the Second Amendment--you have no fucking idea of what you are talking about.

Even better, the Second Amendment is misquoted instead of "the free state" this says "the state".

Oh, dear: he's a STATIST.

Well, this clown now has a permanent reminder of his stupidity.

Or maybe he likes Obama deep down in his heart...which goes with his latent statist tendencies.

Now, piss off and worry about how much drool is dripping from your mouths.

After police officer Darren Wilson shot Michael Brown to death in August in Ferguson, Missouri, he claimed the teenager had reached into his waistband, causing Wilson to fear Brown had a weapon. Brown was unarmed.

"Guns do come out of waistbands," said Eugene O'Donnell, former police officer and current lecturer at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York. Yet the waistband claim has become a cliche of the aftermath of police shootings.

"Some departments around the country need to be reined in on a lot of this stuff," O'Donnell said, adding that the recent uproar over the killing of Brown and others is a good opportunity to address police practices before and after shootings.

Scouring recent news archives, The Huffington Post turned up many stories about police officers shooting armed suspects who reached for their waistbands. But it also turned up many stories in which police cite waistbands after shooting unarmed suspects.

This is an every day occurrence but it reminds me of one of my biggest pet peeves: people who leave guns in unlocked cars, or unsecured in their homes, where they are easily stolen. If you aren’t responsible enough to safely store your guns and keep them from falling into the hands of thieves, then you aren’t responsible enough to own one.

Deputies said the victim's longterm boyfriend, 33-year-old Edison Garcia-Muniz, was at Shiflet's house, and they were handling his gun when it went off. Garcia-Muniz has been charged with manslaughter.

"He indicated that he didn't know it was loaded at the time. He's been very cooperative with us at this point," said sheriff's office spokeswoman Kim Cannaday.

Public support for gun rights has increased since the Dec. 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, according to a Pew Research Center study released Wednesday that found, for the first time in more than two decades, that more Americans support gun ownership than gun control.The waning support for gun control since Newtown's immediate aftermath is not, however, entirely surprising. It mirrors a pattern of public opinion observed after other mass shootings. "The pattern is a painfully familiar one," South Texas College of Law Professor Josh Blackman and Yale University student Shelby Baird wrote in "The Shooting Cycle," an article published in May in the Connecticut Law Review. The authors analyzed how the government and the public react to mass shootings and found that after a tragedy, "support for gun control surges." "With a closing window for reform, politicians and activists quickly push for new gun laws," Blackman and Baird wrote. "But as time elapses, support decreases. Soon enough, the passions fade, and society returns to the status quo."

The national survey contradicts claims by gun control activists who declared the tragedy a "tipping point" and said that it would move the American electorate to favor stricter firearms regulation. Fifty-two percent of those polled said it was more important to protect the right to own guns, while 46 percent said it was more important to control gun ownership.Since January 2013, the month after the Newtown tragedy, support for gun rights has increased by 7 percentage points while support for gun control has fallen by 5 percentage points. According to the poll, 57 percent of Americans think that gun ownership does more to protect people, while 38 percent think that it does more to endanger personal safety.

Wednesday, December 10, 2014

Cross-posted from penigma; by way of explanation, the annual 'Penny' (good penny or bad penny, our 2 cents worth) is an annual acknowledgement/ blog award.

WW I pennies with bullet holes in them
considered 'trench art'

The NRA consistently demonstrates their failed level of limited thinking and lack of moral values in their political and policy positions. They ONLY value guns, to the exclusion of all else, including people, and actual safety - in this case, global safety. They have taken a pro-terrorist position.

In the video, below from the Daily Show, this is evident in the pro-ivory importation/ pro-terrorist position.

Where is the connection?
Elephant ivory taken by terrorist poachers is funding anti-American and other terrorist acts, including attacks like the one on the shopping mall in Kenya.
As noted by Think Progress:

NRA Campaigns Against The Plan To Save The World’s Elephants
...While many people would make the mistake of assuming that this was about helping save endangered elephants, the NRA understands what the real motivation is. “This is another attempt by this anti-gun Administration to ban firearms based on cosmetics and would render many collections/firearms valueless,” the NRA said in its call to arms. “Any firearm, firearm accessory, or knife that contains ivory, no matter how big or small, would not be able to be sold in the United States, unless it is more than 100 years old. This means if your shotgun has an ivory bead or inlay, your revolver or pistol has ivory grips, your knife has an ivory handle, or if your firearm accessories, such as cleaning tools that contain any ivory, the item would be illegal to sell.”
For that reason, the NRA implores its members to flood the White House and Congress with phone calls and emails to “let them know you oppose the ban on commercial sale and trade of legally owned firearms with ivory components.” That desire to resell old — but not antique — weaponry clearly is more important to the NRA than preventing the looming extinction of the species — which is linked closely to the skyrocketing demand for ivory. “In 2013 alone an estimated 30,000 African elephants were killed for their ivory, more than 80 animals per day,” Dr. Kerri-Ann Jones, Assistant Secretary of State for Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs, told the House Foreign Affairs Committee last week.
The commercial ivory ban is only part of a new National Strategy for Combating Wildlife Trafficking announced at the same time as the embargo, which prioritizes “strengthening domestic and global enforcement; reducing demand for illegally traded wildlife at home and abroad; and strengthening partnerships with international partners, local communities, NGOs, private industry, and others to combat illegal wildlife poaching and trade.” In that vein, the United States has been leading the charge in persuading countries around the world to destroy their stockpiles of intercepted ivory, annihilating six tons of it last November. Since then, Togo, China, and France have also followed suit and destroyed seized contraband of their own.
Aside from the conservation concerns, which the NRA doesn’t seem moved by, poaching is increasingly being viewed as a national security issue for the United States. In an interview last year, Robert Hormats, Under Secretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment, said ivory had become a “conflict resource.” An Enough Project report from last year also found that Joseph Kony’s Lord’s Resistance Army has begun poaching ivory from elephant tusks to fund the group’s activities, which include abducting children and forcing them into sex slavery.

Conservative values, pro-gun values, are failed values; conservative and pro-gun thinking is failed thinking. Neither the values, nor the abbreviated and short-sighted selfish positions make anyone more safe, or in a better world.

Davis pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter Monday during a hearing in Bibb County Superior Court. He was sentenced to three years in prison followed by seven years on probation. Davis also must pay a $500 fine.

Had the case gone to trial, one of the surviving two friends would have testified that he heard Davis say, “Damn, my gun went off,” after Howard had been shot, Halvorson said.

Jurors would have heard evidence that an impression was found in the back of Howard’s seat, he said.

But they also would have heard about how Davis later dropped the gun used in the killing while running from police after he was identified as a suspect. When an officer picked up the gun, it discharged, shooting the officer in the hand, Halvorson said.

A GBI lab technician tested the gun and found it to be in proper working condition, he said.

I'll bet this guy was arrested right away. Besides being black, which is one of the surest ways, he accidentally shot his friend in the back and ran from the police. Then, as if that wasn't enough, one of the arresting officers was so incompetent, and dare I say, bumbling, that he shot himself in the hand with poor Sharonte's gun. That's what I call having a bad day.

Just because it's in a
journal doesn't mean it's a fantastic study. Journals and papers both
range from great to meh to downright fraudulent. And even a top-notch
journal can sometimes publish a flawed study.

Tuesday, December 9, 2014

When the history of 2014 is written, it will take note of a large fact that has received little attention: 2014 was the last year in which the United States could claim to be the world’s largest economic power. China enters 2015 in the top position, where it will likely remain for a very long time, if not forever. In doing so, it returns to the position it held through most of human history.

Comparing the gross domestic product of different economies is very difficult. Technical committees come up with estimates, based on the best judgments possible, of what are called “purchasing-power parities,” which enable the comparison of incomes in various countries. These shouldn’t be taken as precise numbers, but they do provide a good basis for assessing the relative size of different economies. Early in 2014, the body that conducts these international assessments—the World Bank’s International Comparison Program—came out with new numbers. (The complexity of the task is such that there have been only three reports in 20 years.) The latest assessment, released last spring, was more contentious and, in some ways, more momentous than those in previous years. It was more contentious precisely because it was more momentous: the new numbers showed that China would become the world’s largest economy far sooner than anyone had expected—it was on track to do so before the end of 2014.

New York State’s tough new SAFE Act gun control law has flagged 278 gun owners who could lose their weapons because they have been deemed mentally unstable, a new report shows.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo urged lawmakers to pass the SAFE Act quickly after the 2012 mass shooting at the Sandy Hook elementary school in Newtown, Conn.

The Syracuse Post-Standard reported last week that since the law’s enactment, the state has collected 38,718 names in a database of individuals who have been found at-risk for owning guns by psychiatrists and other health professionals.

The paper said when the database was checked against a list of pistol permit holders in the state, there were 278 matches, less than 1 percent.

Investigators believe the gun used by Jody Hunt in his shooting spree that left four people dead before he killed himself last Monday was obtained online.

Monongalia County Sheriff Al Kisner told the Morgantown Dominion Post that the 9mm handgun was purchased from a licensed dealer four years ago. The buyer kept it for three years then sold it online to Hunt. Kisner says the gun transactions were traced by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

Hunt was a convicted felon and prohibited from possessing a firearm. Kisner told the paper that the original owner will not face charges because he was unaware that Hunt was a felon. Hunt, 39, was once convicted and served prison time for holding an ex-girlfriend hostage at gunpoint in Winchester, Va.

Police have been researching Hunt’s past, which is littered with violent incidents including a standoff with police in Winchester, Va., in 1999.

This is the kind of guy the gun-rights fanatics want to have access to guns. Some of the whiny liars pretend the main impact of background check laws would be to unfairly infringe on the rights of law-abiding citizens, you know, all those who share guns and store them in each other's safes.

The main impact of background check laws is guys like Jody Hunt would have one less option for guying guns. And that's a good thing.

Another impact is lawful gun owners would no longer be able to say with a shoulder shrug what the last lawful owner of this guns said - I didn't know he was a dangerous maniac.

Police said a 16-year-old boy accidentally shot and killed his brother, thinking a handgun was unloaded when he pointed it at the 21-year-old.

The younger brother told authorities he took the handgun into his brother's room, and said something to the effect of, "Do you feel lucky?" before pulling the trigger, Blackman-Leoni Department of Public Safety Deputy Director Jon Johnston said in an email.

Police have not released any names.

Johnston said the parents were at the grocery store and the brothers were the only people at the residence on the 5000 block of Big Rock Street in Stonegate Farms.

It is not known who the firearm belonged to, as it did not belong to either parent or the victim, Johnston said.

-(Ammoland.com)- If you watch television and the movies, you might get the impression that a punch to the head is no big deal.

That is not true. A punch to the head is a very serious attack.

It can disable. It can maim. It can kill. The head is a vulnerable
target, which is why an attacker aims for it. I first became aware of
the deadly potential of one punch to the head in the 1970’s, from a long
forgotten news story.

Later, the son of a close friend killed a man with one punch. He was
eventually found not guilty of manslaughter, but only after a long and
expensive legal fight.

We owe a debt of gratitude to Steve Kokette of Madison, Wisconsin, for producing One Punch Homicide,
which documents the surprising numbers of one punch homicides that
occur in the United States and around the world. From simple Internet
searches, he has compiled a list of 114 one punch homicides in the United States. I am sure that the list is far from complete.

The standard for the use of deadly force is that you reasonably
believe that you are defending yourself from force that can kill or
severely injure you. Once you know that a punch can kill or severely
injure you, you can explain to a jury why, as a reasonable person, you
were forced to threaten or use deadly force to defend yourself or
others.

You do not have to allow yourself to be beaten before you defend
yourself with deadly force; but you have to be able to reasonably
explain why you understood that you were under the threat of potentially
deadly force.

Sunday, December 7, 2014

Jeffy Denning is a gunloon and professional bullshit artist who has never been in a gunfight. But like most gunloons, Jeffy feels pretty comfortable telling everyone exactly what they should do in a gunfight. He has written "20 rules for winning a gunfight" in Guns.com--a firearms industry astroturf site.

Some of the "rules" Jeffy lays out are, well,...unsound. Let's take Rule 1: " Be prepared to stop a co-worker, a neighbor, a teammate, friend or even a relative. You may have to physically hurt or kill someone that you know or someone you’ve talked with or like or someone you think you know well."Not so bad. After all, most gunloon shootings don't involve strangers; they're usually friends or intimate acquaintances. But here's Rule 2: "Have plan to kill everyone you meet."

Uh oh. If you take Rule 1 and Rule 2 to heart, this means when you see your kindergarten-age daughter--you're not thinking about how cute she is and how much you love her. Instead, you wondering if that garden hose could be used as a garrote. The guy in the pew in front of you at church? Maybe the hymnal could crack his skull. This thinking probably is indicative of Denning's job-hopping; after all, few employers are wild about having employees that are consta
ntly thinking of killing everyone.

Point is. should someone who is constantly harboring homicidal thoughts be allowed near so much as a butter knife?

Last Saturday afternoon, in Washington, DC, an aide to Nancy Pelosi visited the Bishop of the Catholic cathedral in DC. He told the Cardinal that Nancy Pelosi would be attending the next day's Mass, and he asked if the Cardinal would kindly say a few words that would include calling Pelosi a saint. Pelosi's aide said, "Look, I'll write a check here and now for a donation of $100,000 to your church if you'll just tell the congregation you see Pelosi as a saint.

The Cardinal thought about it and said, "Well, the church can use the money, so I'll work your request into tomorrow's homily."

As Pelosi's aide promised, Nancy Pelosi appeared for the Sunday worship and seated herself prominently at the forward left side of the center aisle. As promised, at the start of his sermon the Cardinal pointed out that Ms. Pelosi was present.

The Cardinal went on to say to the congregation "While Ms. Pelosi's presence is probably an honor to some, the woman is not numbered among my personal favorite personages.

Some of her most egregious views are contrary to tenets of the Church, and she tends to flip-flop on many other issues."

The Cardinal continued. "Nancy Pelosi is a petty, self -absorbed hypocrite, a thumb sucker, and a nit-wit. Nancy Pelosi is also a serial liar, a cheat, and a thief. I must say, Nancy Pelosi is the worst example of a faithful Catholic I have ever personally witnessed. She married for money and is using her wealth to lie to the American people. She also has a reputation for shirking her Representative obligations both in Washington, and in California. The woman is simply not to be trusted."

The Cardinal concluded, "But, when compared with President Obama, Ms. Pelosi is a saint.”